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No, not all children in foster care need to find an adoptive family. The goal of foster care is always reunification with birth parents. Ideally, birth parents will be able to do whatever is required to provide a stable home and reunite with their children, including but not limited to returning home from an extended hospital stay, rehab, treatment center or incarceration, and/or obtaining employment and/or housing. However, if birth parents are not able to make enough progress in a given amount of time, their parental rights will be terminated. In this case, their children become wards of the state and legally eligible for adoption. Nationally, there are approximately 100,000 kids who are waiting to be adopted.

There are very few costs associated with adopting from foster care. Most states have private agencies that can provide foster care licensing and case management services for free, with minimal fees associated with getting fingerprints for a background check and buying items for the required home safety checklist. Families who will adopt also will receive monthly stipends, supplemental payments to cover support services, and Medical Assistance until their child turns 18.

The primary demographic of children awaiting adoption from foster care are teenagers, kids who are part of a sibling group, and/or children who have special needs that will require supplemental support services. Families interested in adopting an infant, toddler, or who are not open to parenting any degree of special needs may not be the best fit for foster care adoption.